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UCL to boost availability of new medicines

17 November 2011

UCL has announced details of a
new EPSRC Centre which will boost innovation in the manufacture of new
medicines, improving cost-effectiveness and making the drugs more widely
available. The EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Emergent
Macromolecular Therapies is being funded by a £4.9m grant from the Engineering
and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with a further £3.9m investment
(cash & in-kind) provided by over 25 founding industry partners.

The Centre, which will be led
by UCL in partnership with Imperial College London and The London School of
Pharmacy, is part of a nationwide, £51m EPSRC investment to ensure the UK
stays at the leading edge of manufacturing research. A total of eight post-doctoral researchers will undertake an
integrated programme of work with a matching number of associate doctoral
studentships, linked to academics outside the Centre's core. Located in the
Advanced Centre for Biochemical Engineering at UCL, the pioneering focus of
work will be on antibody-based drugs for diseases such as cancers, severe
arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

The EPSRC Centre has been
established in order to address a range of emerging manufacturing challenges
facing the UK
biopharmaceutical sector. By lowering the manufacturing costs of drugs, it will
simultaneously widen access to these therapies and reduce pressure on NHS
budgets.

The vision for this EPSRC Centre is to effect a set of radical changes, making potential new therapies more generally available at a cost the economy can sustain.

Professor Nigel Titchener-Hooker, UCL Biochemical Engineering and Director of the new EPSRC Centre

Speaking to academic and
industry collaborators at the launch of the EPSRC Centre Prof. Nigel
Titchener-Hooker (Professor of Biochemical Engineering at UCL and Director of
the Centre) said, “This is a significant gain for UK bio-processing research and
knowledge exchange. The new EPSRC Centre aims to improve the manufacture of
macromolecular medicines, which are more costly to manufacture and use than
conventional medicines.”

“If the manufacturing process
and design of the final medicine are poor, costs rise and patient access is
restricted due to budget pressures on providers such as the NHS. The vision for
this EPSRC Centre is to effect a set of radical changes, making potential new
therapies more generally available at a cost the economy can sustain.”

Professor Dave Delpy, the EPSRC’s CEO,
said, “Our Centres for Innovative Manufacturing are part of a new approach to
maximise the impact of innovative research for the UK.
They receive five years funding to retain staff, develop collaborations, carry
out feasibility studies, and support up to two research projects. This lays firm
foundations on which we hope further investment, including that from industry,
can build. We have recently issued a call for the research community and
business to present a case for further centres addressing other areas of
innovation.”